Question

1. How did President Truman’s containment policy differ from the Marshall Plan?

2. How did President Eisenhower manage U.S. foreign affairs?   

Answer 1

1. The Truman doctrine is US President Harry Truman's 1947 policy of countering the rise of Soviet influence in Eastern Europe by financial aid to countries in the region that had not yet fallen under Communism — more precisely, Greece and Turkey. The Marshall Plan can be seen as an extension of the Truman doctrine which emerged later that year. It was once again a program of offering financial assistance to non-Communist countries. But this time the aid was expanded to all of Europe because US Secretary of State George C. Marshall and US Congress thought that all of Europe was in danger of falling to the Soviets and becoming Communist.

2. Eisenhower dismissed the idea of a "America Fortress" separated from the rest of the planet, protected behind its shield. He claimed that active U.S. participation in international affairs was the best way to convey the pledge of democracy to nations vulnerable to Soviet-sponsored communism being encroached upon. Furthermore, Eisenhower insisted that negotiation between the U.S. and the Soviet Union was essential to the survival of the entire globe, even though each side contributed to the pile of nuclear weapons in the process.

Eisenhower had taken a cautious approach to Sputnik's launch. He declined to be swept in the rush to increase the development of weapons and the expenditure on defence. His goal, he made it clear, was to end what he considered a needless arms race, not speed it up. To that end, Eisenhower has urged U.S. negotiators to continue negotiating with their Soviet counterparts on an agreement to ban atmospheric nuclear tests. In 1959, Eisenhower and Soviet prime minister Nikita Krushchev agreed to further talks on a test ban and weapons cuts at a September meeting in the United States.

In a game of superpower warfare, Chrushchev used the downing of the U2 to portray the Soviet Union as the wrong party. He only attended the Paris Summit long enough to storm out because Ike wasn't going to apologize. There was no negotiation of a Treaty. Eisenhower left Paris sadly persuaded that a major downturn had been dealt with in relations between the US and the Soviet.